Demand for wireless communication is constantly increasing. The frequency spectrum, however, is a scarce resource. In many places, demand for frequency spectrum has outpaced supply, resulting in congestion and a reduction in wireless communication quality. Consequently, there is a need to utilize frequency spectrum in an innovative manner in order to ensure sustainability.
Some technologies allow spectrum to be used dynamically and shared between different uses. A Television White Space (TVWS) system, for example, allows some frequencies that have been allocated for broadcast television to be used for wireless communications. As another example, in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to use spectrum-sharing techniques to open up the 3.5 GHz band for wireless broadband use.
In a wireless network that uses a shared frequency spectrum, there is typically some mechanism for determining what channels are available to be used. Existing mechanisms, however, assume that the wireless network is connected to the Internet. For example, in a TVWS system, an access point (or other network node) may query a TVWS database, via the Internet, to determine available channel information. The requirement to have an Internet connection may make it difficult to create wireless networks that use a shared frequency spectrum in areas (e.g., rural areas) where it may not be possible to connect to the Internet.